what we have seen and heard
we also declare to you,
so that you may have fellowship along with us;
and indeed our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son Jesus Christ.

We are writing these things
so that our joy may be complete.

If we say, “We have fellowship with Him,” yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.

If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One.

But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

I have written to you, children,
because you have come to know the Father.
I have written to you, fathers,
because you have come to know
the One who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
because you are strong,
God’s word remains in you,
and you have had victory over the evil one.

For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world.

And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.

So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.

Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him.

Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.

You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.

The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works.

This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident.

Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.

unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

If anyone has this world’s goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need—how can God’s love reside in him?

They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.

God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, for we are as He is in this world.

There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.

This is how we know that we love God’s children when we love God and obey His commands.

If we accept the testimony of men, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that He has given about His Son.

I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true One. We are in the true One—that is, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.